Experienced coach Eddie Jones has helped galvinise the Japanese team, breaking into the Top10 for the first time under his guidance.

Japanese work rate and commitment is legendary and with a Super Rugby Franchise around the corner truly great things should be coming out of Asia very shortly. I think this World Cup is a little bit to early for anything major to occur but the future of Japanese rugby looks bright and beautiful.

Set piece, specifically scrum, can bump ugly’s with the best of them – they’ve come on leaps and bounds recently and were even pushing the All Blacks scrum backwards a few years ago.

The Japanese League is no longer just a place for Tier 1 players to earn a crust at the end of their careers – in the last 5 years it’s become far more competitive than it used to be.

Back in 2013 they beat Wales and broke IRB Top 10 for the first time in their history, however since then their form has dipped. They finished bottom of the Pacific Nations Cup, and will be looking to rectify that at the World Cup.

They will realistically be looking to challenge for 3rd place, and potentially causing an upset against Samoa or Scotland. However if one of the ‘bigger’ teams decides to rest players against Japan, it could prove costly.